Like this:

Thoughtfullyprepping commented on my last post which made me think a little harder on it.

All playfulness aside, any of the weapons I have mentioned would take training to use as a weapon. People believe that they can just pick up a hammer and go at it, but that isn’t the case. You have to train for it, work at it, for any weapon to become useful.

I still believe that ammunition could become a problem in the zombie apocalypse and that it may be a good thing to move on to combat weapons, but thoughtfullyprepping brings up several good points. The fact is that many people who are faced with the undead images of their loved ones may not be able to raise a hand to stop them from taking a bite of them.

But there is one thing you need to consider when faced with the zombie version of the person you love: Do they want to hurt someone else? Maybe you can’t hurt them to save yourself, but you could stand up to them to save them. No one I know would willingly step up and hurt someone that they love. The same is true for the zombie version. Ok, maybe not, but the fact remains that if they were still them, would they want to hurt someone else? I doubt it.

If my mom became a zombie, I know I would make a point of making sure that she wouldn’t hurt someone else. Why? Because I love her. Because I know that she would never do anything to hurt someone else if she was alive. Because I know that she would want it that way. I may hesitate, I am human after all, because I love her very much. But in the end, I would do it. I would pray that someone would do it for me if I became a zombie.

Why would I ask someone else to do it for me? Because I am afraid of pulling the trigger myself. I would rather have someone take me out, make sure I couldn’t hurt someone else. I don’t know, maybe I could do it myself. I would hope that I had the strength to.

What do you think? Would you take your own life if you were becoming a zombie? Would you ask someone to do it for you? Could you take the unlife of someone you loved in order to prevent them from hurting others?

Me: Welcome to today’s post. I decided to do something rather unique and interview a zombie. Don’t worry folks. The zombie is behind steel bars so there is no threat to your hostess. Anyway, let’s go ahead with the interview. Hello, Mr. Zombie… I’m sorry, I would rather not call you ‘Mr. Zombie’ through the whole interview. Do you have a name?

Zombie: Uugh

Me: Ok Ug. It is a pleasure to meet you. What do you think of today’s political climate?

Zombie: Uuuugh.

Me: I have to agree with you, Ug. Today’s politics are a bit tedious. Now, let’s get into some personal details. What is your favorite food?

Zombie: Uuuuuuugh.

Me: Ok. Whose idea was this to interview a zombie? And who came up with these questions? What is the zombie gonna say anyway? “Brains” doesn’t seem to be in his vocabulary.

Zombie: Uuuuuuuuuuugh.

Me: I have to agree with Ug. This is ridiculous. I hear you laughing back there, Steve. Was this some kind of joke?

CRASH!

Me: Oh man. The cage just fell apart. Get someone in here to deal with this!

Historically, vampires and zombies were pretty much the same thing. They were both called revenants. Usually, though, a zombie that rose from the grave was thought to spread disease and death, just like a vampire was thought to do. So what really makes them different?

The vampire is thought to be ethereal and ageless. This is thanks in part to Anne Rice and writer’s like her. She was one of the first to declare the sexuality of the vampire who, after the change, would become untouchably beautiful. They retain who they were in their memories. Though many seem to go bad, corrupted by their new powers, few retain their personality despite the temptations of going dark.

The vampire’s senses were also heightened. Their sight allowed them to see more than a human could. The same occurred for the sense of smell and touch. They are faster, stronger, and more agile once they leave their human shell behind. However, the same mythology traps their movement to the night. They also react strongly to garlic and crosses, anything that belongs to the church. And their gift is typically thought to be a curse.

Zombies on the other hand are thought to be rotting corpses shambling about in their search for brains and flesh. While they were once human beings, any recollection of who they were is gone. They are seen as completely soulless. They have no added abilities except a certain tolerance to pain.

They are relentless, however, and will follow their prey for days in order to get their pound of flesh. Zombies are known to eventually rot, depending on the climate they are in. In cooler weather, the zombie stays together better while in hot climes the rot increases exponentially. However, some zombies in the heat will not rot as much as become mummified. This is more likely in deserts, since the air is drier.

Zombies, unlike vampires, are not controlled by the time of day that they can be active. They prefer darkness, instinctively knowing that their body will decay faster in the sun. But they are not dominated and do not risk bursting into flame if they do go out in the sun.

Like this:

I would have to say that the zombie apocalypse is something that no one is really looking forward to. But there are some things that will help with the possibility.

First, know what you are dealing with. There are different types of zombies, which a brief look-a-bout will tell you. You have the classic, slow moving, stupid zombie. This type is generally the kind that rises from the grave and has usually been dead for a while. They will typically be emaciated and covered in dirt from residing beneath the earth.

Next you have the modern zombie. This kind is usually freshly dead. Though members of the classic zombie can be found in herds of this kind, they are more likely to be the reanimated corpses of the recent dead. They aren’t as slow as their classic counterparts, and can break into short-distance runs.

Next is the new zombie. These creatures are reproduced in the same way as their modern cousins. However, they are better able to run and have some semblance of either memory or thinking.

Now that you have a fair idea of what you’re up against, you will want to get down to the main point: Surviving.

The best bet is to be prepared. Stock up now, while you still have time. Pack up non-perishable foods, weapons and ammunition, first aid kits, and water. Water is going to be a problem though. Especially if you run out. Any regular water-source could be contaminated by zombies and there is no way to know what can be done to remove the contaminants.

Don’t pack up weapons that you aren’t familiar with though. You will want to practice regularly with any weapons you prefer. The current fad is to work with crossbows or regular bows and arrows.

Next you want to keep an eye on the news. Look for any outbreaks for any strange viruses and plan accordingly.

Finally, you will want to avoid metropolitan areas. The more dense the population the more likely you will to run into zombies. Smaller populated areas are still hazardous.

Always plan in advance and keep up on anything zombie by purchasing books and reading documents that have anything to do with zombies. Even movies are a good source of information. Just beware of hokey graphics and poor plot lines. Still, you can learn a lot of “do not dos” by watching these flicks.

I was thinking about Cleo’s story last night. I don’t mean about where it’s going to go. I know where I want it to go and I guess my characters agree because it’s still that way in my mind. But I was actually thinking about why I started writing it, which then led to why I write at all, and finally to stories that I have read but didn’t like.

With Cleo, it just happened. I have written tiny bits about zombies before, usually brief moments of zombiness in other stories. But never as a catalyst or a main sequence in stories. To be honest, other than the few bits in my teen paranormal series I never really thought about zombies in my stories. Now, I am a huge zombie movie fan, and have read a few books on zombies (mostly in the form of the Anita Blake series, which has nothing to do with the apocalypse).

I had been toying with a zombie apocalypse story for a couple weeks, but I wasn’t sure how to go about it. I didn’t have any characters. I didn’t have a plot, other than the zombies. I just had the niggling shadow of an idea.

Then, one morning, I woke up. My break from school had just started a few days before. But that morning, I woke with purpose. I wrote the first day of Cleo’s story down. And that is how I met Cleo and Anubis. (For those of you out there who have read Cleo’s journal, I have a feeling that Anubis will come into play later on.) After writing her first journal entry, I had no clue what to do with it. But I was itching to write more.

During this same period of time, I was toying with the idea of a Blog Novel. A novel written purely for a blog. When I had written Cleo’s first journal entry, I was still burning to write more, but I wanted to think on how to get it out there and the Blog Novel idea popped into my head. So I built ‘Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse’ and decided that Cleo would post a new entry in real time, to give the journal a more authentic feel.

That is how Cleo’s Journal came to be. I didn’t write ideas out before hand until day 6. When I wrote the entry for 6, my writing continued. All the way to day 18. But as I worked through the blog, I learned that Cleo and the others, who I didn’t even know, started popping into the story. From River and Abby, to Mel and Cleo’s mom (Meredith), Gabriel, and now Daniel. I had no preconceived notions about these people. My original intention for Cleo was to survive the apocalypse alone. After meeting River and Abby, well, things started going on their own. The first time I met Mel, I was thinking of him as a grandfatherly sort who had a vested interested in keeping people happy. Well, we all know how that turned out.

So. Cleo’s journal came into being. Probably the most surprising aspect of the journal is the fact that people liked it. I have written online before and have stories on fanfiction.net and articles on Helium (which I wish I had never written for them – I really wish I could pull some of the articles off of there so I can use them personally. I don’t really care about the rest of the articles. But a handful were my pride and joy.). Anyway, when people said they liked my work on Helium, I really thought they were just saying that to get me to look at theirs (which would earn them money).

People actually liked Cleo’s journal. And frankly, it was a real shock. There was no reason for them to comment on my story unless they really did like it. (Thanks to those who do, you know who you are!) And here’s the crux. I honestly didn’t think I was a good writer. I still wonder. I am terrified that I am not good enough. I still remember the first “I like this!” I received in a comment. I turned so red my parents thought I was having a heart attack. No joke. My face was hot and achy all at the same time and felt like it had swollen to the size of an overinflated balloon.

Not believing the compliment, I went back over what I had written; trying to figure out if there was a mistake. By the time I was done, there was another compliment. I think I might have passed out, except that I am certain my parents would have called the ambulance. Try explaining passing out from embarrassment to a doctor. I am so not going to do that.

Now you are looking at this, as I did when I realized this, and the next question is: Why do I write at all? Actually, I can’t stop. It’s really hard to explain. All I know is that I have something inside that will burst if I don’t continue writing. It wakes up with me in the morning, continuing to grow, especially on days that I don’t write. The only relief I get is when I do write.

Whenever I think about why people write, I always go back to Sister Act 2. In the movie, Whoopi Goldberg cornered Sheryl Ralph on a street corner. Whoopi knows the other girl can sing, and thinks about singing, and gives her a book. When she does, she points out something the author said (verbatim), “If you wake up in the morning and all you can think about is writing, you were meant to be a writer. If you go to bed at night and all you think about is writing, you were meant to be a writer.” (I can’t remember how she said it exactly, but this is the general idea.)

I can honestly say that the urge to write can be a curse as much as a blessing. I am driven to write, no matter what. I can be in the middle of driving my mom to work and suddenly have an idea. Or I could be just about to fall asleep and it happens. Or cooking dinner (too many pots have now entered the junkyard because of me – even worse was the one where I was cooking top ramen). But at the same time, it’s the best feeling in the world when I write. I can be whoever I want, for as long as I want, and do anything I want.

Even better is that it makes me curious. I am fascinated by everything. Whenever I get curious, I just look whatever has interested me up on the net. Most of what I learn eventually ends up in my stories. So the idiom “write what you know” is a really fluid concept for me because I am continually learning.

Like I said before, I am terrified of being a bad writer. Which then leads me to looking at the books that I can’t get into, or just plain don’t like. Twilight has entered that pile, along with all the following books of that series. Yeah, I love vampires and humans and werewolves and all those spooky creatures from nightmares and dreams. So, how can I love the monsters and yet seriously dislike Twlight?

Believe it or not, the characters. The only truly believable character in the novel series is Edward. I’m sorry, but a girl will not just lie down and take the abuse that Edward dishes out to her unless she comes from a background of similar abuse. Since she didn’t, she shouldn’t. Unfortunately, now other writers are taking up a similar ploy. (The Fallen series is one that follows a similar character structure.)

Then I realized that I have no room to talk. The thing is that I am not published, so I can’t say one way or the other. I know that it takes incredible confidence and courage to be able to walk up to an agent or publisher and say “I think I have a story you might like.” Which means that until I have walked in their shoes, I have nothing to say about their stories. They worked. That’s all that matters, at least in the monetary department.

It dawned on me while I was thinking about this last night, that if I really don’t like what another author publishes, then I need to get my fingers working and write something ‘better’ and get it published. And I also realized that even if I get my stories published, I am going to have someone else sit there and rip it apart, for character, setting, plot, whatever. So here is my advice to anyone who hates a published novel that is currently out there. Stop writing about how much the novel annoys you and write your own. If you take the time to write what makes a novel so bad, you could probably get most of an outline, or at least part of the first chapter, written.

And just in case people are wondering, my vote on best novel/novel series of this era is the Harry Potter series. I honestly believe that it should have a spot in the literature anthologies. Rowling is an absolutely amazing writer and I can only hope to one day be as good as she is. (And remember that I currently have over five-hundred novels in my own library – I collect books like others collect coins, only I am not as picky about it.) 🙂

Catnip is usually used for our feline companions as a way to entertain them and ourselves. I have to admit that I use it also as a training tool to get cats to scratch their posts, play with new toys, and use the liter box. However, humans can find uses for this plant as well.

The awesome thing about this plant is that it does grow wild, typically in drier places. It has heart-shaped leaves with ‘jagged’ edges and is a member of the mint family, so often is used in teas alongside the other mints.

According to Annie’s Remedy, “catnip leaves contain considerable quantities of vitamins C and E, both excellent antioxidants.” Catnip can be used for a bunch of things, most notably insomnia. Now, we all know that if you are being chased by zombies, taking a sleep inducer probably is not the best idea. However, if you have trouble falling asleep when you are in a safe place (usually with others who can watch your back) then this little plant can do wonders.

It can also be used for anxiety, to calm the body enough to think rationally. This can be extremely useful when you have a person who is easily excitable, or who will not calm down after rescue. Frankly, if they keep it up, you will have zombies beating down your door. And this is an easier method of calming a person down without knocking them out or flat out killing them.

To dry, cut the stems and hang in a cool dry place. After they are dried, take the leaves from the stems and throw the stems away. You can just crumble them up and wrap them in a paper towel or a small bag to steep. Remember to use only 1 teaspoon of dried catnip. However, you do not need to use only dry catnip to make a tea. Take three teaspoons of fresh catnip and steep in warm water for about twenty minutes. Do not boil the catnip, because it will destroy many of the good vitamins in the plant. Only add the leaves after you pull the water from the heat and let sit for a few minutes.

This plant is great for use with kids and the elders of our society, especially in times of high stress. And you can add things to increase the flavor of the catnip, such as mint, lemon, lemon balm, and even cuts of fruit.

Now, I personally hate using sugar in teas. I truly believe that the chemicals used in sugar will destroy the various helpful affects of anything used in a tea. So I use honey. I also feel that the honey increases the potency of the herbs. However, I don’t know if any of this is proven. It’s just a personal choice. And one that I very highly recommend.

There is one thing I have a definite love/hate relationship with: My hair. A lot of people have complimented me on how thick it is and how shiny, on down the line. More often than not, the times that I get the compliments I am on hate terms with my hair. Don’t ask me how that works.

Now, as I have been going through everything I can find on zombies to come up with my own stance on these interesting creatures, I have come across several recommendations about hair. Of these, the most common recommendation I have seen is to cut your hair off.

If you are like me, that is a near impossibility. So, I have been thinking along the lines of hair care during a zombie apocalypse. In all my time watching movies and reading books on the zombapoc, I have yet to see a zombie use a woman’s hair as a tool for dragging her closer, or keeping her in place. This may simply be because I have a) not seen enough zombie movies, or b) not read enough zombie books.

But my thought on this is that zombies don’t think. (Unless you deal with the ones that will come later on in Cleo’s journals.) They don’t realize that hair can be used in that way. However, if you are seriously considering cutting your hair, you may wish to consider some of the options below beforehand.

1. Braid it. Yes, braid it. Now, I know you are thinking that, “wouldn’t this just give the zombies something better to hold on to?” Technically, yes. But until we meet some intelligent zombies, it won’t matter. Besides, I’m not done yet. If you braid your hair, start with a french braid, this shortens it more than if you just do a typical braid. The next step, especially in cool weather, is to put the tail between your shirt and jacket/sweater. Another possibility is to tie/tape it to your neck to keep it from swaying about. Think of it as a zombapoc necklace if you decide to take this step.

2. Bun it. Yep, wrap it up into a bun on your head. This can be useful because you can hide weapons in it. If you come across raiders, the fact of the matter is that they won’t typically check a woman’s hair for weapons. This can be a total god-send in such a circumstance. Even things that wouldn’t normally be considered dangerous or useful can become a life saver depending on the circumstances. Bobby-pins can become keys. Chop-sticks can be used to stab humans and zombies. And if you are really creative, chop-sticks could be modified to hide a razor blade, kinda like those pen razors.

And don’t forget that what you use to keep the hair in bun (or even braid) form, could be a potential weapon. Take, for instance, a thin metal necklace or wire. If used functionally, then its just a matter of pulling it from your hair to use as a garrote or ligature. This may not be very effective against zombies unless your intention is to pull its head off, which would take a huge amount of strength, but it could end up being useful in other ways.

3. By cutting it, you are more likely to become cold or hot. This is something that guys don’t normally have a problem with. Most of the guys I know wear some form of hat to prevent themselves from becoming too cold or hot, so if you do decide to cut your hair, this could be a viable option. However, my point is that women with longer hair are used to having it as a weather barrier. For survival, sometimes even a little thing like hair can make a difference between life and death.

4. Long hair itself can be useful. Let’s say you’re stuck in the mountains in winter. No zombies are around and you need to warm up, but there is nothing dry nearby. It may smell foul, but hair can be used as a good fire-starter (if its not too oily). If you have no way to store weapons in your hair, or if the raiders actually think of checking it, then you still have one weapon left. You hair, itself. Sounds strange, doesn’t it. Remember my mention of a garrote? Well, hair can be used the same way if you grab a hank that is neither too thick nor too thin. This can be awkward, but it could be done.

I can’t remember now where I saw it, but there was a movie with a woman who had extremely long hair that she kept in a braid. For the truly creative individual, what she did, could be used as an option. The woman in question attached a weight to her hair and used her hair as a whip. Again, this could be awkward, but with enough practice, it could be dead useful (forgive the pun).

Now, let’s say that you wish to keep your hair. How do you keep it clean? Actually, that would be surprisingly easy. Anywhere you find sand and water, you have potential to clean your hair. It may be gritty for a while afterward, but sand can strip the oils from the hair. Use it the same way you use shampoo. Other things to use that you may already carry are acidic juices, baking powder (also can be used for deodorant and toothpaste), vinegar, and beer. Yes, beer.

If you decide that your hair could be too much work, then feel free to cut it. Just remember to consider all possible options before you do. 🙂